One Thing
by Dana1
Summary: It’s been a almost two years since Vince, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels went to prison and now things start to go wrong
1. A Start

Title: One Thing

Title: One Thing

Author: Dana

Rating: PG for now

Warnings: Not sure at the moment.

Summary: It's been a almost two years since Vince, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels went to prison and now things start to go wrong.

Author's note: This is a sequel to His Father's Son that was written with Juliet 3:16 2000 which at the moment it looks like I'm writing it without her. You need to read His Father's Son first.

Second Author's note: I've had Finger Eleven's song One Thing stuck in my head all day. It really fits this fic.

Disclaimer: If you've seen them on TV then they are owned by whatever wrestling company created them or themselves. There are too many OC's for me to begin to list.

Chris Benoit stretched his arms over his head, as he looked over the booking sheet one more time. The show would start soon but he still felt he should look through it. Tonight was no different then any other night but his mind was on something else.

His son Daniel was making his debut.

He just wished he could see it.

Daniel had signed with WCW even though the WWF had also offered him a contract. He said he didn't want people thinking he was getting it easy with his dad running the company with Owen Hart and Steve Austin. Chris did know he had gotten a lot of it during training.

"Hey dad." Megan Benoit said coming up to him. Tyler needs the booking sheet."

He handed it to her. He supposed he should be happy that one of his children was working for the WWF as a production assistant. His ex-wife Marietta said she was happy that Megan was doing something.

"So what are you doing after the show?" She asked taking it from him and looking at it.

"I don't know. Probably go back to the hotel room. What about you?"

"Oh Alex and I are going out to dinner at Denny's." She said blushing a little.

Chris just smiled. He liked his daughter's fiancé but she seemed a little nervous about it. He supposed it was because he was a pro wrestler. He'd have to talk to her about it sometime.

His phone rang.

"Hello?"

Megan waved and walked away.

"Hey dad." Danny answered.

"Hey." He looked at his watch. "So how did the match go?" Danny had wrestled with Brian Isaacson in a dark match against Fire and Ice. He figured the match was over by now.

"It went well." He let out a sigh. "Does the butterflies go away?"

"It takes awhile." He said. "I just wish I was there to see it."

"Matt Hardy promised that he'd get a copy even if it was a dark match he said he was sure it was recorded somewhere. You know how those videotapes are."

"I know it too well. Besides if you don't have a videotape I'm sure there are pictures."

"I gotta go, Dustin's calling a last minute meeting. Bye."

"Bye." Chris said hanging up his cellphone.

It still amazed him how things turned out.


	2. Late Night Meetings

Danny hung up the phone and hurried over to where Cameron Hickenbottom and Athena Hart were standing

Danny hung up the phone and hurried over to where Cameron Hickenbottom and Athena Hart were standing. They wrestled as Cameron Michaels and Sierra respectfully.

They had been in WCW for over a year and Cam was the current United States champion. Athena at the moment was feuding with Simone Johnson who wrestled as Pebbles though according to Athena she didn't seem very dedicated to the sport. For those two it was as if they were continuing their in the ring and out of the ring feud when they were in Kentucky.

They stood and listened to Dustin announce some last minute changes to the car, that didn't really have anything to do with him. He was finished for the night. All he would do now is sit in the back and watch the matches.

He thought back to the match he had against Fire and Ice. There had been a big reaction when he had come through the curtains. He knew that was because of who he was. He had been all over the news and websites during the trial. Athena was able to downplay it a little because of her dyed hair but most fans knew who she was from the Internet. Internet kept nothing secret. There was news on wrestlescoop that he had been signed by the WWF before they had even made the offer.

He still couldn't believe he was officially a pro wrestler. His training had probably gone longer then it normally would of but a few things kept coming up. First the trial and then Jason's father died a year ago. He had taken off a few weeks to be with his family. Even though Jason was his stepfather, he always called Mark George, grandpa and that was at the insistence of the older man. Then right when he was trying to make his decision on which company to go to, Eddy and Chavo had to leave because someone in their family had died in a car accident. He had been asked to remain to help D-Lo Brown with the training. Now here he was the night of his official debut and he still had butterflies in his stomach.

He remembered how Justin Westman laughed at him and told him to relax. He and Glen Silverman had a little too much fun with him in that match but it did help.

He wasn't quite certain why he was so nervous. It was probably because of the large crowd.

He walked into the dressing room to take a shower and change. He had almost hit someone with the door as he was entering.

"Hey watch it!" They mumbled. He heard them say, "dumb rookie."

He supposed there would be a Chad anywhere.

Eddy contemplated the paperwork on his desk before looking at the computer clock. Where had the time gone? He wondered. He should have gone home about an hour ago, but he was busy contemplating two new applicants that he had been sent. He was very proud that the school was a success. It seemed once he got one student out of the school there were at least two ready to take their place. The last one who graduated was Danny Benoit.

He sat back thinking. He really had no one to worry about anymore, other then Chavo's son who had a strange knack for driving people almost through mats.

In the past few years the students had gotten more interesting. Cameron Hickenbottom and Simone Johnson coming to OVW and going to high school in the area. Both Shawn and Dwayne had done a lot of fast-talking to get him to allow that to happen. Before the requirement was that you had to graduate high school before you could attend OVW. Cameron came his junior year and Simone her sophomore year. He still wondered what the parents and even himself were thinking.

Then Athena Hart decided she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. He had agreed to letting her join the school and agreeing to keep her secret. He figured what was one more secret? The only problem was the cabin. He didn't think it was possible for Athena to find out about her father, but Eddy was still nervous about all of it.

Danny applying was no surprise to him. He had tried talking Nancy into letting him attend the school and attend Brown High School. Somehow it hadn't surprised him when Nancy said absolutely not. He had allowed Danny in without a second thought. He thought if he had been keeping Athena from finding out about her father, he could do the same with Danny.

He hadn't realized how wrong he was.

He had to admit he was glad they were out of the school and on with their own careers.

He picked up the framed picture of him with the three most important women in his life, his wife Vicki, and his daughters Shaul, Sherilyn, and Kaylie. He once again contemplated officially retiring from everything. All of his children were grown up. Shaul was pregnant with her first child, Sherilyn was busy with her job and Kaylie was in college. He was no longer hiding anybody so maybe he should enjoy life with his wife. After one of his nieces died earlier that year, he had thought maybe it was time he spent more time with his family.

He'd have to discuss it with Vicki.

"Working awfully late Guerrero." A voice said.

Eddy looked up to see Eric Bischoff standing in the doorway to his office.

"Hey Eric. Yeah I was just about to go home. What brings you to OVW?"

"Well I called your home looking for you and your wife said you were working late." He looked around for a moment before plopping down in the chair. "Last time I was in this office, you threw me out."

"Last time you were in this building, you dragged Danny into a closet." Eddy reminded him.

"True. So I heard Danny had his first match in WCW tonight. Must be glad to finally have Athena and Danny out of here."

"It makes things a lot quieter that's for sure." Eddy said with a chuckle. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Michael wants to meet with us on Friday to discuss a few things. Michaels' attorney is bringing up some things that we need to all talk about."

Eddy made a note on his calendar. "I'll tell Chavo tomorrow. You could have called."

"I know. I was in the area."

"Sounds like you are enjoying retirement."

"Yes." He said relaxing more in the chair. "The money Vince paid me over the years has come in handy. Loree and I are going to spend some time with the kids before heading for a month long trip to Japan."

"Well have fun." He said picking up his keys and going to the door with Eric following him.

"There's one more thing Guerrero. The warden called Shane and said that Randy Orton's been visiting Hunter a few times. I don't know if that's something to worry about or not."


	3. The Importance of Family

Hello shiny happy people

Hello shiny happy people. It's me Juliet, and I'm back to help Dana with this sequel.

Here is Chapter Two featuring Athena and Oje Hart, and Cassidy and Steve Austin catching up on their lives since HFS ended.

_One Thing_

_Chapter Two_

_The Importance of Family_

Athena Hart a.ka. Sierra walked back through the curtain after her match was over. Though it had gone well, she would be more than glad when her feud with Simone Johnson was over. The fourth generation wrester, (if one could call Simone that) was still the arrogant pampered bitch she had been in OVW. Still ambitious for Playboy, though Athena knew there was little chance Shane McMahon would actually set up a deal for that, still seemingly jealous of Athena for 'stealing her spotlight" She had even more training than Athena, and the woman still couldn't do something as simple as a suplex right.

"If she's not careful she'll end up injuring herself every other match like that Playboy slut Massaro," she muttered, thinking of the 2005 WWF Diva Search winner who ended up constantly injuring herself before she ended up getting fired for not only injuring herself on a move in 2008, but also the Women's champion at the time Beth Phoenix. Nobody could quite figure out how Ashley Massaro tangled both her and Phoenix up on the ropes and managed to break both their legs.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. Mildly surprised to be getting reception in the arena, she looked at the caller id in the front of the phone. Smiling she flipped the tiny device open and lifted it to her ear.

"Hey, ugly," she said starting to sort out her ring gear in one hand while holding the phone with the other.

"You know, that was a lot more endearing when we were kids," her brother's voice retorted drily from the other end of the line.

"I know, but I can't help it," she responded chirpily. "So how's everything at home?"

"Pretty good," Oje Hart told his sister, "Mandy's no longer racing to the bathroom every morning so the morning sickness must be going away."

Athena nodded, even though her brother couldn't see her. She had been thrilled when she learned she was going to be an aunt again.

"And Tim?" she asked, "how is he taking being a big brother?"

Oje chuckled. "Pretty well, actually. He's excited though he wants a sister I think."

Athena laughed.

"Oh, I got a postcard from Mom and Dad today?"

"Oh cool!" Athena exclaimed. In the time since the trials and all the publicity surrounding it, their parents had decided to focus on themselves and in short order renewed their marriage vows and more recently took off on a second honeymoon. "What does it say?"

"Oh just the typical, 'having fun, wish you were here,' that kind of stuff. Oh and apparently from Dad, to remind Steve Austin and Chris Benoit not to trash the WWE while he's gone."

Athena laughed. "Sorry, working for WCW now. Can't help there, but I can certainly pass on the message if I can."

"So what are you doing?" Oje asked.

"Just packing up my gear for the night and then going back to the hotel," she opted not to tell Oje that she was sharing a hotel room with Daniel Benoit. Despite the fact that they were still nothing more than friends after the events of the last couple of years, she knew she would never hear the end of it. Her mother was still angry that Athena never told her about dating Cameron Hickenbottom. "The I've gotta get ready for the tour."

WCW was about to embark on a tour of Europe. It was the first international tour either WCW or WWF had done since Vince McMahon and co horts were busted and their subsequent trials over a year ago. TNA ended up going under after the arrest and subsequent confessions of Jeff and Trish Jarrett. A lot of the wrestlers that had worked there ended up working either for WCW or WWF after that. Since Danny wasn't cleared to go on this trip, Athena would probably end up rooming with Dakota Runnels for the tour.

"Yeah, Uncle Bret mentioned something like that. Apparently when he talked to Dad last time, Dad made mention that he was disappointed that he would probably be home while you were on tour," Oje said.

"Well, we'll have some time off after the tour, so I'll probably end up home to see him then, unless he goes back on the road with the WWF by the time _**I **_get back," Athena remarked, then caught the door opening. "Gotta go, my ride's here. Talk to you later?"

"You bet," Oje said, "Bye little sister."

With that Athena hung up the phone and looked as Danny entered the room.

"Ready to go?" Danny asked.

"Just about," Athena said, packing the last of her gear away. "So how did it feel to have your first 'real' match?

"Pretty good," Danny told the woman, who through a serious of unique circumstances had ended up becoming probably his best friend. "Though it felt different."

"It'll probably feel that way for awhile," Athena told him. "I still felt that way for a few months after I debuted. So what's on your agenda for the next few days?"

"Probably back to my apartment, then since I'm not on the tour, probably go home and visit Mom. She was kinda nervous again when I told her I was about to make my debut." Danny said, remembering how emphatic his mom, Nancy was against him becoming a pro - wrestler in the first place. "You?"

"Probably finish getting ready for the tour, and maybe spend a couple of girl days with the roomies before I leave." Athena currently had an apartment in Atlanta, sharing it with Danny's sister, Megan, and Steve Austin's daughter Cassidy, who was also a production assistant for the WWF.

"Sounds like a good plan," Danny told her. Both stopped short when they reached the parking lot seeing a sad, solitary figure heading towards his car.

Although Cameron Hickenbottom was still friendly towards Athena and Danny, the bond the three of them had shared in OVW had deteriorated since the trials and the revelation of what his own father, Shawn, was really capable of. Cameron didn't spend hardly any time with anybody socially and always roomed and showed up to the arena alone. Rumor had it he had not even visited his father in prison, nor visited his mother at their home.

Daniel gave Athena quick, comforting hug. "Come on, let's head out," he said, leading them towards their own rental.

Steve Austin was in one of the offices backstage at the WWF show going over some paperwork. That was probably his least favorite thing about taking over partial ownership of the WWF. The paperwork. At the moment it was worse than ever since Owen was on his second honeymoon. Not that he begrudged Owen for it. He had Debra had taken one not too long ago themselves.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Dad, Chris wanted to give you a copy of tomorrow night's booking sheet's," his daughter told him. Ever since the trials against Vince and his cronies had ended, Cassidy Austin was adamant about not going back to England. Especially given the fact, that apparently Steve's ex - wife had thought she and her sister, Stephanie did not need to know that their father was alive. Seeing as she was 22 at that time and therefore an adult Steve felt no need to force her to go back to where she did not want to go. As she had been born in the US, she had no trouble being able to stay in the U.S. and certainly no trouble finding a job when Steve, Chris, and Owen had taken over the WWF.

"Great, more paperwork," Steve muttered. He looked up at his daughter and gave her a slight smile for her benefit. "Thanks honey."

Cassidy laughed. "You don't fool me Dad. I know how much you hate the paperwork."

Steve made a face of annoyance. Before Cassidy came back into his life, the only other woman to know him that well was Debra. Oh well, Steve mused, small price to pay to have one of his daughters around him. The accent would take some getting used to as well as it reminded him too much of Jeanne, his ex - wife. In other things, however, Cassidy was proving to be more her father's daughter.

"Necessary evil," Steve told her, looking over the sheets. Did not really surprise him too much to see Christopher Daniels in the main event. He was due to get the heavyweight title at the next PPV. Most everything seemed to be okay for the next show. He looked at his daughter with a more serious expression.

"I talked to your mother today," Steve told her, opting not to mention that the conversation was mostly her yelling about him kidnapping their daughter. Again. He had considered pointing out that Cassidy would hate Jeanne so much of she had simply told her daughters that their father was alive, but figured it wasn't worth the effort. Once Jeanne fixated on an idea she rarely let it go. Even Darren had tried to point out that it wasn't kidnapping since the only other conversation mother and daughter had had since Cassidy had left was "I hate you. I'm never coming home."

"Let me guess: She accused you or more to the point, Al Snow of kidnapping me. Again." Seeing her father's silence as confirmation, Cassidy rolled her blue eyes and sighed, sitting down in one of the chairs in the room. "I'm not going home."

"Not telling you to. Way I see it, it's your life to live," Steve told her. Sighing, he rubbed a hand across the back of his bald head. "However, how long has it been since you've talked to your sister?"

Cassidy looked uncomfortable. Truth be told, Cassidy and her older sister did not get along too well as they grew into adulthood. Stephanie worshipping their mother and supporting her whenever Jeanne had something bad to say about their father, while Cassidy idolized her father growing up and took the news of his death very hard. To Cassidy it felt like they had grown up into too very different people with no way to bridge the gap between them.

"Since before I left," she said quietly, "she's so much like Mum, I was afraid she'd rat me out or try to stop me from going to meet Al Snow."

"She's coming here."

Cassidy's head shot up. "Your shitting me?! She once told me she would never set foot on U.S. soil again after your funeral.

"Well, apparently your mother thinks your sister can 'talk some sense into you.' Her exact words. She didn't say exactly when she was coming but apparently it's going to be soon."

"Great," Cassidy groaned. "I think I chose the wrong company to work for. At least with WCW I could probably be out of the country when she visited."

Steve snorted, thinking again of the irony of Vince's son handing Vince's company over to the three men he and his lackeys tried to have killed. All and all there were some upsides to the whole mess.

"Okay, wrap up what you need to do and we'll get out of here. I promised Debra I'd be back at the hotel at a reasonable hour tonight."

"Okay, Dad," Cassidy said, leaving the room to see what else there was to do.

Steve put his head in his hands, hoping that his oldest daughter's visit did not end up to be the disaster he felt it might end up being.

That's it. Stay tuned for Chapter Three.


	4. Happy Birthday

"I still don't see why you are doing this." Amy Hardy said as she and her husband Matt pulled up in front of the prison entrance.

Matt sighed as he pushed a lever and his seat lowered. "It's his birthday Amy. Dad went and saw him earlier today. I need to see him too."

"You said last time he wouldn't even talk to you. Matt this is the guy who broke your back." She reminded him.

"I know but he's still my brother."

He grabbed Amy's hand. "Are you sure you don't want to come in?"

"No. I don't want to ever see that man again." She said. "I've got some errands to run. We need a few more things before we leave for London."

They both got out of the car. Amy watched Matt wheel his way to the entrance of the prison before getting behind the wheel. She made a few adjustments of the mirror. She almost didn't miss pedals though it had taken some getting used to.

Matt watched her drive away before hitting the wheelchair button and waited for the door to open.

He wheeled up to the first desk.

"I'm here to see Jeff Hardy. My name's Matt Hardy I called earlier today."

The man looked at his list and then said, "follow me."

They went down until they arrived at the bank of phones where visitors could talk to the inmates.

Ten minutes later Jeff Hardy was led into the room. That's an improvement. Matt thought. Last time he was there Jeff would not see him.

Jeff picked up the receiver.

"Happy birthday."

Silence.

"Dad said he came here earlier today."

More silence.

"They didn't let him give you a piece of cake." Matt went on. "Probably thought it had a way to get out." Not that their dad would have done so. His father, Gilbert, like Amy had told Matt he shouldn't visit Jeff. "So how are…"

"Why are you here?" Jeff finally asked.

"I wanted to talk to you." Matt said forcing a smile.

"You shouldn't be here. I didn't want to see you but the guard made me. I guess he feels compassion towards cripples."

Matt blanched inwardly but he still said, "Jeff you are still my brother. I forgave you for what you did."

"Why?" Jeff asked. "I'm the one who knocked you off of the ladder. You could have been killed. Now you are stuck in a wheelchair. You shouldn't feel like you owe me anything."

"Why did you knock me off of the ladder?" He had his suspicions but he wanted to know.

"Why not? I was tired of being in your shadow. You know what? Amy was right that night. I was jealous of you. You and Amy dated for years before you got married. The one girl I really loved dumped me and married Jeff Jarrett. Your career was going well."

"I was getting beat up every week." Matt interjected with a smile.

"Yeah but you and Amy were leaving."

"How did…"

"I found the contract in your bag that one night I borrowed a roll of tape. The McMahon's gave me a way of taking you out and I jumped on it. You still ended up better off. You are in charge of production in WCW. Before I ended up here, I was doing commentary. Commentary. After all that and I didn't get anything out of it." He snorted. "You get a broken back and direction to your career and I'm the one who ended up worse off."

"Jeff I wasn't even going to go to WCW as a wrestler." Matt said with a sigh. "I wanted to do something else. You are right though. I could have gotten killed. I could have hurt Al Snow and Michael Cole if they hadn't moved. If I hadn't landed on the guardrail, I might have landed on a fan. If I hit in a certain way I could have broken my neck instead of my back." He sighed. This wasn't really going the way he wanted it to.

"Yeah I know." Jeff said and started to hang up the phone.

"Jeff you are right. I have every right to be mad at you and I'm sure you think you have every right to be mad at me but there's a reason I'm here. I want to try to mend whatever's wrong with us. For years I had no idea that you had intentionally knocked me off of the ladder. I had always thought it was some kind of accident since no one really saw what happened. My career and life changed forever that night but I don't hate you."

"Then get me out of here."

"I can't do that."

Jeff slammed the phone down.

Matt watched the guard lead him away with a heavy heart. He rolled out of the room and out of the building. He found Amy waiting for him.

"So how did it go?" She asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said getting behind the wheel.

"He wouldn't talk to you would he?"

"Not really." He said and left it at that.


	5. Blue stormclouds forcasted

Notes: Half of this (roughly) was written by Laurel and she created Amara. The start of this takes place before chapter 3. Sorry for the confusion

Amara Burke sat down at her desk as she flipped thru her Portfolio. She had just started with WCW as a photographer. She had been taking pictures in the area for a few years. She was 25 years old and somewhat tall at 5'9". Her black hair was pulled into a loose braid.

Most of the pictures were from the local wrestling shows in the West Georgia/East Alabama area. The most recent shot was a copy of Daniel Benoit flying thru the air doing the swan dive head butt to his opponent from his debut match Monday.

She smiled as she remembered Matt Hardy's expression when he had seen the shot. She gazed at it again when her eyes caught something. She wasn't quite sure what it was but something caught her eye that didn't seem to belong there.

She looked at it then went to her laptop where the newest photos were, she quickly went thru Daniel's photos then thru the photo's of the rest of the matches and there was a man with ice blue eyes staring at Daniel. There was something familiar about those eyes and the look in them made her pause.

"If looks could kill," she murmured before checking her email and the wrestling news sites when a name stuck out at her "Orton... Randy Orton." she found a picture of him then looked at it and the photo of Daniel. "Fuck!"

* * *

Matt Hardy rolled into his office after dropping Amy off at home. He needed some time to himself after that meeting with Jeff. He had known the meeting wouldn't go well, but he had been hoping for better then that. He guessed he would have to realize that things weren't going to be the same as they were 20 years ago.

A tape was sitting on his desk and he read the label with a smile. He'd have to give it to Daniel the next time he saw him. Though with the crazy week they had before they left for the European tour, he wasn't sure when he'd have a chance to see him. He decided to give it to Shane who he knew was missing half of the tour.

He flipped through the photo's that one of the new photographers had sent him of the dark matches. He stopped one that made him realize how much Daniel was truely his fathers son. This photographer had captured Daniel in mid flight as he leapt from the top rope and into a perfect diving head butt.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he called. He smiled at the young woman who entered. "Ms. Burke to what do I owe this honor"

Amara held a small portfolio close to her chest. She had spent the night pacing and thinking and it showed, her hair normally pulled back into a braid was in a ponytail and the dark circles under eyes enhanced the paleness of her eyes. "Mr. Hardy. I was looking thru some photos and I believe Mr. Benoit is in danger. His dad testified against Hunter Helmsley right?"

Matt nodded so she continued.

"I found him looking at Danny with a look that would put him six feet under if looks could kill, and I found other photo's of him with looks that could kill. And To be honest I'm worried for him" She opened the portfolio and showed him the evidence. Her fingers were shaking, as if Orton himself was a killer.

Matt leaned forward in his chair to get a better look. "That's Randy Orton all right." He agreed. He looked a lot older but there was no mistaking him. As far as he knew Orton had left the sport shortly after the trials. Rumor was that WWF weren't thinking of resigning him.

He sat back thoughtfully. There was something strange about it.

Dustin Runnels came into the room with a disk in his hand. "Here's the video to promote the London Nitro." He said handing it to him. He looked at the folder. "What's this?"

"Pictures from Nitro." Amara answered. "I think Daniel Benoit's in trouble."

Dustin picked up the folder and leafed through the pictures. "Randy Orton." He said with a shake of his head. "I don't know." He said turning to the younger woman. "He's always had a bad attitude from what I heard. Matt you remember what he did to that woman's hand bag?"

"If he wasn't Hunter's friend he probably would have been fired a long time ago." He agreed. "But yeah I'm sure it's nothing. He may still be bitter about the possibility of not getting resigned. But I wouldn't worry about it."

Amara looked uncertain but nodded. They knew Orton better then she ever did. "If you say so."


	6. Calm Before the Storm

I was listening to Rascal Flatts earlier this week and got inspired

I was listening to Rascal Flatts earlier this week and got inspired.

space for Dana's comments

_Calm before the Storm._

_Somewhere in the World..._

There were sounds of happiness coming from one of the bungalows on the island.

They felt almost like foreign sounds to Martha Hart. The feelings in general she was experiencing were foreign to Martha. This emotion of complete and perfect happiness.

Yes, Martha had been happy before. Like when a holiday would come up or when a friend would visit or she would visit them. She was especially happy when one of her kids did something good. But all of that had always seemed to be tinged with some kind of bitterness or melancholy. It has been a long time since she had felt so perfectly joyous and content in the feeling.

It seemed appropriate then, that she would be feeling this way with the one person she had last shared it with, her formerly dead husband.

Sighing atop her husband's broad chest, she could hardly believe the turn her life had taken in the last couple of years. From a widow and single mother of two, to the wife of one of the owners of the WWE and the mother of one of WCW's premiere women's wrestlers in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. It almost seemed like a dream, a fantasy that she created in her own mind. If it was, she certainly did not want to wake up!

As if on cue, her husband noticed her sigh and looked down, kissing her forehead lightly.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Owen Hart asked.

Looking into her husband's blue eyes, Martha simply smiled.

"Just thinking about how if these past two years were somehow a dream, then I really _really, _don't want to wake up," she told her husband.

Owen smiled. It was still hard for him to believe that he was actually here in this moment in time. His wife, was in his arms, Vince and his cronies had been brought to justice, with Vince dying in prison a few months ago (not to mention the irony of now co - owning his company), and his family did not hate him for being gone all these years. Sometimes it seemed too good to be true for Owen and he too, wondered if this was all some sort of elaborate illusion. The past couple of years seemed like the best in Owen's life.

Not to say there were not rough patches. Athena's decision to continue her training after the trial and eventually accept the WCW contract offer still did not sit well with Martha. She still considered the sport too dangerous, especially after hearing of Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley's threats and what Joanie Lauer tried to do to Athena during the trial. However, Owen and Oje choosing to support Athena in her choice forced Martha to reluctantly back down from her previously militant stance. She still did not support it, but Martha realized she could not stop her daughter and truthfully she did not want to widen the estrangement between her and her daughter anymore than had already been created. Both Harts just hoped that nothing bad befell Athena.

Pushing that dark thought out of his head, Owen smiled even wider at his wife.

"Same here," Owen said, "sometimes it's hard to believe it's been two years since everything came to a head."

"And now we're here," his wife finished for him, a contented sigh turning into a satisfied yawn. "It's too bad we're leaving soon. This is the most relaxing vacation I've had in a long time."

"We could always come back next summer, Make it an annual thing."

Martha looked up at Owen with hopeful eyes.

"Promise?"

Owen put a finger on his wife's soft lips. "Remember what I said that first night home? No more broken promises. I intend to keep every one from now on."

Martha suddenly giggled at the memory of what happened the morning after. "I'm sure our poor, traumatized daughter remembers it."

Owen laughed as well.

"Okay, hindsight and all, it probably might have been a good idea to lock the door that night."

"Ahem, I don't think that was foremost on either of our minds at that moment," Martha retorted before kissing her husband passionately.

The ringing of a cellphone interrupted what might have came next.

Both Harts groaned.

"I thought I told you to turn that thing off?!" Martha exclaimed into her husband's chest.

"I thought I had," Owen said, before reluctantly getting up and wrapping a towel around his waist. Although the bungalow they were in was more private than most, there was no telling where a camera might pop up. That fact was driven especially home after Steve and Debra Austin's second honeymoon experience. He flipped open the phone, hoping to be rid of his unexpected interruption quickly.

"Hello," Owen said, listening as the person on the other end of the line greeted in kind. Discovering it was one of his older brothers, he grew annoyed. "Bret, this had better be good."

As Martha listened, she saw her husband's expression go from annoyance to concern to alarm. The string of curses spewed at one point worried her.

As Owen flipped his phone shut, the look on his face caused fear in Martha and his next words did nothing to allay that.

"Joanie Lauer's been released from prison."


	7. Brotherly Love

Danny walked into a hotel room in Baltimore Maryland after a house show

Danny walked into a hotel room in Baltimore Maryland after a house show. He was rooming with Chaz Klum at this show since Athena wasn't on these couple of shows as it was for the ones who weren't going to be in Europe. Chaz at the moment was downstairs at the hotel bar. Danny wasn't twenty-one yet so he went back up to the room. Chaz tried to tell him that the bartender wouldn't care but Danny didn't really want to get in trouble. He didn't really want to get yelled at by everyone. Besides he hadn't drank once other then Champaign at David's wedding.

He took his cellphone out of his bag of gear and looked at the time. He should be up. He hit number 6 on his speedial.

The phone rang a couple of times before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Levi."

"Hey Danny." His voice brightened. Levi Sullivan was one of his older brothers who currently lived in St. Petersburg Florida.

"I didn't wake you guys did I?"

"Not that I hear. I'm down in the kitchen studying for the Bar exam. Sam and Emma Leigh are sleeping."

"How is Sam doing?" He asked referring to his seven month old nephew and Emma Leigh was Levi's fiancée.

"Still keeping us up a lot of the night." Levi said wit ha contented sigh. "Man I love being a dad."

"You know it's your fault that mom's asking me if I'm seeing anyone. Aside from Trevor, I'm the only one who isn't engaged or married to someone."

"Nope. Megan got engaged after me so it's her fault. Jason told me you made your official debut Monday. How was it? I didn't get to see it because I forgot."

"You wouldn't have been able to." Danny said taking his tennis shoes off and sitting down on the bed. "It was a dark match. I won't be on a television show until after the European tour."

"Didn't get to go huh?"

"No the shows were all set before I was signed but it's okay."

Levi snorted. "Right. Jason already said you'll be home when we come to Atlanta. I can't wait because I need a break from the studying. Besides mom can babysit Sam and Emma Leigh and I can spend some time together. We haven't had any of that since Sam was born."

"Her parents wouldn't take him?"

"They are still mad at me for her getting pregnant." He sighed. "Just one time…Oh well. I know you aren't going to be excited about seeing Emma Leigh but she is going to be your sister in law."

"I'd rather not think about it."

"Come on you and Megan didn't get along for a long time and now you guys are close. I'm sure once you get to know Emma Leigh things will change."

Danny wasn't going to forget that summer that he had met Emma Leigh. She stuck her nose in the air and wouldn't talk to him once. She hadn't even liked the tattoo that Levi had given him. She was very rich and he didn't understand the connection between his very laid back brother who had tattoos over his arms and a girl who's family had a vacation home on the French Riviera.

"Seriously Danny, you'd like Emma Leigh if you really got to know her. I expect you to be an usher at the wedding."

"Who's the best man?" Danny asked even though he hadn't thought it would be him.

"Hawk." He said referring to his college roommate, Angus 'Hawk' Hawkinson who most people who knew him forgot Hawk wasn't his real name.

"Cool."

He could hear crying in the background.

"Oops have to go check on Sam. I'll see you at mom's." He said and hung up the phone.

Danny hung up the phone and turned on the TV and started to channel surf. Something caught his attention.

"Joannie Laurer who was arrested two years ago for assaulting Athena Hart and Daniel Benoit, in connection to the Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, Paul Levesque, and Michael Hickenbottom's trial, has been released from prison earlier today."

He turned up the volume.

A woman stood there. From the screen he saw her name was Simone Blackwood, and she was Joanie Lauerer's lawyer. She was explaining how Joanie had served her time and that she was not available to answer questions.

Danny looked at the clock and decided it was too late to call his father to see if he knew about this. He wondered what this all could really mean.


	8. Untitled

"Mum!" Megan Benoit said with a laugh as she talked to her mother on her cellphone. She unlocked her apartment door. "No I'm not going to England. That's WCW. No but I'll have a bit of time off in a couple of weeks. Yes I'll bring Alex with me." She rolled her eyes. "I've got to go. Bye mum." She hung up.

"Why did you promise you'll take me?" Alex asked sounding a little taken aback.

"Because my mum has been bugging me for a month that she wants to meet you. I guess she wants to make sure her little girl isn't marrying some awful man."

"Gotcha." He said with a wink before pulling her in for a kiss. "And I thought passing your dad's inspection was tough."

"Don't worry she'll love you."

"That's good." He said taking his jacket off. "Are Cassidy and Athena due back any time soon?"

"I'm not totally sure. I know Cassie took a different flight and Athena's probably shopping. But for now we have the apartment all to ourselves." She said sitting down on the couch.

There was a knock on the door.

"Or did." Alex said opening the door to allow Danny in.

"I wasn't sure if anyone was here. I just got in. Hey Alex." He greeted him.

"Hey Danny." He said before sitting down on the couch next to Megan. "So how was your first couple of shows in a real company?"

"Great." He said with a grin. "I'm not too excited about not wrestling for the next couple of weeks though."

"Do you think they'd let you wrestle for the WWF?" Megan asked.

"No. They are trying to keep the companies as separate as possible so as to not confuse the fans."

"So what are you going to do with all your time off?" Alex asked putting his arm around Megan's shoulder.

"Spend time with my nieces. Mom's already called me and told me I'm expected for dinner Friday. Levi, Emma Leigh, and Sam are coming. Probably work out at Gold's Gym." He said with a shrug.

"Well I plan to enjoy these two days off." Megan said with a big smile.

Danny seemed to finally get the hint and went to the door. "If you need anything. Call me." He said and left.

"I thought he'd never leave." Alex said kissing Megan again.

Megan returned it before saying, "it's funny."

"What is?"

"Danny and I. We didn't get along at all when we were kids. My mum didn't make it much better for us since she didn't want me spending too much time with him. We didn't get along when we did see each other. We get along now, course we work for two different companies."

"Hey I like Danny." Alex said. "He's a lot like your dad."

"A lot of people say that." Megan agreed.

Alex leaned in for a kiss.

Eddy sat in the cabin in Kentucky that once hid four people. It felt weird to be there now, now that no one else lived there. The cabin did belong to Shane Douglas and he said he and his wife Carla came up there last month to clean it.

In the living room was Michael Erichson and his wife Tammy, Eric Bischoff, Eddy, Mark Calloway and Shane Douglas.

"You all know about Joanie Laurer being released. There was nothing we could do because her sentence was over. I have agents keeping an eye on her but there is some likelihood that her husband Sean Waltman may be released soon."

"Damn it." Shane said. "Is there anything we can do to keep him from being released?"

"Well since the only charges we have on him is assault, no there isn't." Michael said. "Nash won't be getting out any time soon since he did try to shoot Danny so at least we don't have to worry about that."

"I assume Polaco will be out also?" Tammy asked referring to Peter Polaco who had once wrestled as Justin Credible and had been arrested for assault along with Sean and Joanie.

"Right." Michael said.

"Is there anything being done to keep everyone safe?" Carla asked.

"Other then keeping an eye on everyone else, not much." Michael said. "The only bright side on this, Hickenbottom's attempts to appeal have been denied. Even from the grave, Vince is keeping that from happening." Michael said. "

"Athena's going to Europe right?" Eric asked Eddy.

"Yeah they leave in a few days."

"The FDA will be watching Laurer in case she tries to leave the country." Michael said. "At this point, that's all we can do. "Everyone needs to be on alert just in case anything does happen."

"With how things are going," Mark said. "and with our luck, something could."

No one disagreed with him.


	9. Downtime

Notes: The beginning of the chapter is for email addresses but wouldn't accept them.

To: StanTheMan (), LeviTheLawyer(), DavidandSally(bellsouth), CanadianPrincess(), Momof3inGA()

From: OVWGrad()

Subject: I'm going stir crazy, , , From: Subject: I'm going stir crazy

I thought I'd like the downtime but this is driving me crazy! They have left for the European tour and I'm stuck here. Help! Okay most of you are going to be at dinner at mom's but call me and save me from boredom.

Danny

Five minutes after he sent the email there was an IM.

StanTheMan: Yo Danny you wanna trade? I've got a term paper due this week.

OVWGrad: No thanks. I'm not that bored.

StanTheMan: So what's this about a dinner at your mom's?

OVWGrad: Mom's having a get together is all.

StanTheMan: Oh.

OVWGrad: I'll call mom and tell her you are coming. So how's school?

StanTheMan: Don't ask. You are the smart one for not going to college.

Danny chuckled.

StanTheMan: Oh man. I gotta go. I'm going to be late for a class. Email me the details on the dinner.

Danny turned the computer off and stood up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was still early in the day, and he really had nothing to do that day except go to the laundromat. That didn't sound like a good idea to him. He'd put that off as long as he could.

He picked up his cellphone and decided to call his mother.

"Hello?" Nancy George asked.

"Hi mom it's me." Danny said into the phone.

"Oh hey Daniel." Her voice brightened. "Are you home?"

"Yeah. I'm home for the next couple of weeks."

"Good."

Danny could tell she was smiling. "Is it okay if Stan comes to dinner Saturday?"

"That's more then fine." She was silent for a moment. "How were the shows?"

It meant a lot to him that his mother wanted to know how the shows went. He knew she didn't much like having him in the sport but he still felt like the kid who wanted to please his mother, even if he did a lot of stuff that didn't please her.

"It went great. I'm just disappointed that I'm not on the European tour."

"Well take the time to relax you won't have much time for that." She reminded him.

"Thanks mom. I needed to hear you say this."

"Daniel I may not agree with what you are doing, but I know there isn't anything I can do. You are almost twenty-one-years old. I can't keep babying you."

"Thanks."

"I'm meeting Jason for lunch. I'll talk to you later." She said and hung up.

Daniel looked in his refrigerator and realized he didn't have anything for lunch either. His roommate, Ben "BK" Kotaska, was on the tour in Europe.

He quickly made a list of groceries before heading for the elevator. He went down to the parking garage and something made him turn around feeling that he was being watched but he didn't see anything and got into his car.

"What an interesting flat." Stephanie said as she followed Cassidy into the apartment she shared with Athena and Megan.

"Thanks." Cassidy said even though she knew her sister was being sarcastic. She really wished that her father hadn't made her pick Stephanie up at the airport. She didn't really want to talk to her older sister.

"So you share this with two other wrestlers?" She asked sitting down in a chair.

"One wrestler actually, Athena Hart, who's in Europe. Megan Benoit, is a PA like me, I think is out with her fiance."

"Oh."

There was silence for a moment.

"Mum says you aren't returning her phone calls."

"I have nothing to say to her." Cassidy said sitting down in a chair also. "She didn't want us to know dad was alive!" She reminded her.

"I still think you misheard her. Mum didn't know he was alive. "How could he? It wasn't like they had said anything about him yet. You are being unfair to mum."

"I am not! Even if she didn't know, she shouldn't have said anything. She always hated dad. She didn't even want us to see him."

"He hit her!"

"He did not!"

"He did too! You just don't remember. I remember and mum told me about it."

"That's because she wanted you to hate dad."

"He's the one who hid away for years."

"He was in a bloody coma. It's not his fault." She reminded her standing up.

"I have no idea why I came here if you won't listen to me." Stephanie said.

"Why are you here?" Cassidy asked her temper starting to show.

"To get you to come home!" Stephanie said showing her own temper. "I don't know why you want to be in this sport. Mum wants you to finish college."

"I'm not going back to college. I'm not going back to England. I'm going to stay here with dad. I'm an adult and half American, so I can stay here." She reminded her.

"Well if something goes wrong, don't come running to me."


	10. My Immortal

Notes: Back before I ever fully decided to write a sequel, Jules and I were writing sidestories for His Father's Son

Notes: Back before I ever fully decided to write a sequel, Jules and I were writing sidestories for His Father's Son. One of my favorite ones I wrote was His Father's Son set to Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. This is just to give you an idea of what happened to Vince ;). This takes place a year or so before One Thing Starts.

.

_Shane McMahon yawned from his seat on the couch. He had a very long week with WCW and was settling down for a nice quiet evening with his family. The children were both doing their homework on the dining room table but each coming in every once in awhile to ask him for help with their homework. _

_A loud crash and a mrow followed. _

_Shane got up and looked around to see that Andrea's kitten had managed to knock over a vase of flowers and was looking rather indignant at being all wet. _

_"Andrea can you dry the cat off?" He asked handing her the kitten who was not happy at all at the moment. He hurried over and got a broom and dustpan and swept up the mess. _

_"Everything okay in here?" Marissa asked sticking her head in the room. _

_"Just fine. Just a small catastrophe." He said which made Wes laugh hard enough to fall over. _

_She gave them both strange looks before leaving the room. _

_Ring! _

_He reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" _

_"Shane?" Linda asked her voice sounding almost strained. _

_"Yeah mom what's wrong?" He asked sitting down on the couch once again. _

_"Your...Vince has died. I just got a call from the prison saying it looks like he died from a heart attack last night. I was wondering if you could..." she paused. "Could go down and claim his body. I know it's asking a lot but I can't get a plane down for a couple of days. Flights booked and weather problems." _

_"Sure mom." He said with an inward sigh. _

_"Thank you Shane. Do you need the phone number for the warden?" _

_"No I've got it in my office. I'll see you in a couple of days." _

_"I love you." Linda said hanging up the phone. _

_Shane sat back feeling dumbfounded. Vince was dead. His father, though he stopped referring to him as such well over a decade ago was dead. He felt at a loss of how he should be feeling. His father had been behind murders of several people and plotted the murder of three others including himself even if it did turn out Vince wasn't planning to do that, and yet he couldn't help but think that it was his father after all. _

_"Shane?" Marissa asked coming into the room. "Who was on the phone?" _

_"My mother. Vince's dead." _

_"Oh Shane I'm..." she trailed off also not seeming to know how to say it. Vince had caused so much pain to their family and to others. _

_"Thanks Marissa." Shane said getting up off of the couch. He went to the closet and grabbed his jacket. "Mom asked me to go and claim the body and I left the phone number to the jail at my office." _

_"You just got home. You can wait till tomorrow." _

_"I know I just need to do it Marissa. I'll be back later." He said turning to go. _

_"Can I come?" Wes asked. "My homework's all done." _

_"Sorry little man but I don't think they'd let children in there." He ruffled his hair before kissing his forehead. He went over and kissed Andrea and then Marissa. The kitten gave him a hiss probably still blaming him for her being all wet. _

_He went to the garage and got into his car. He didn't know why he didn't just say he had the phone number stored on his cellphone. He dialed the phone number. _

_"Warden Issaacs." A voice answered. _

_"This is Shane McMahon. My mother just called to tell me Vince McMahon had died." _

_"Ah yes Mr. McMahon. They have taken him to _

_"This is Shane McMahon. My mother just called to tell me Vince McMahon had died." _

_"Ah yes Mr. McMahon. They have taken him to Fulton County Morgue. Here let me get you the address." There was a pause. "Here it is: 430 Pryor Street SW. I will call and let them know that you are coming." _

_"Thank you." He said hanging up and putting the address into his onstar computer. He drove through the streets still lost in thought. He didn't think he'd be spending the night off driving to a morgue to claim his father. He pulled into the parking lot and stepped into the building. _

_A doctor stepped out to meet him. "You must be Shane McMahon. I'm Dr. Young." He said leading him into the building and then opened a slab. _

_Shane looked down at him without an outwards reaction though he was torn up inside. He nodded and took the clipboard from him before signing it. _

_"This is all of a sudden. Is it all right if I call tomorrow with details on where the body will be taken?" _

_"Of course Mr. McMahon. Death of a loved one is always shocking." _

_"Something like that." Shane added quietly. Shane walked out of the morgue still lost in thought. _

_  
A few days later they had the funeral at Cemetery Crest Lawn Memorial Cemetery after both he and his mother talked to the priest at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Atlanta, they decided this was the best way to handle it. Vince wasn't a catholic like both Shane and Stephanie were, they just didn't think it would be proper. The priest was very understanding and did attend the funeral more as support for them. _

_There weren't that many people at the funeral. The people in attendance were Shane, Marissa, Andrea, Wes, Linda, Pat Patterson and Gerald Briscoe who said even though Vince did what he did, they felt they needed to pay their respects. Also there were numerous reporters. _

_Stephanie was angry at not being allowed to attend the funeral. She said he was her father and she should be allowed to attend. A judge ruled that for the safety of Shane McMahon and his family, that she could not attend. _

_Shane had one arm wrapped around Marissa's shoulder and the other was holding Linda's hand. At one point he thought he saw Chris Benoit standing in the back away from the reporters but after the funeral he couldn't find him. _

_There was no wake after the funeral. After Vince was burried they went home or rather Shane went to his office at CNN Headquarters saying he had some reports to work on before the next PPV but Marissa and Linda both knew he had just wanted to be alone. _

_He had remembered the song My Immortal, being played at Chris Benoit's 'funeral'. He found it odd how that song struck him now. With the exception of the chorus, the song matched how he felt ever since he found out his father had planned to have him killed off. It had been more then ten years ago, and yet it still felt like yesterday when his secretary brought in the video that changed his and Marissa's life forever. How he had been more then a little shocked to find Chris and Owen at the cabin. _

_He had thought when the trial ended, things would go back to normal. His kids could have a normal childhood and they were happy. He was happy getting back into running WCW and liked the little rivalry they had once again with the WWE though to be honest, since he owned both companies, it didn't really matter who won this time. _

_He also remembered when Vince had called him into the office and told him he was restarting WCW and wanted him to run it. He had no idea that back then, Vince was trying to keep him as far away from what he was doing as he could. He had taken a big step backwards from WWE after the Benoit memorial though to be honest, that started to happen after the disaster of Royal Rumble 2004 with the ladder match between Jeff Jarrett and Chris Benoit. It had been a disaster and he hated that he had been apart of it, even if everything he had booked had been reset. _

_The fans absolutely hated the run in and he had told his dad that. He apologized to everyone afterwards and had even gone to talk to Mick personally about it. Mick said he hadn't blamed him, but still he felt he was at fault for it. _

_He shook his head thinking how he had known a completely different Vince McMahon then who he really was. He'd mourn the Vince who was his father, the one that hadn't killed all those people. He had forgiven him a long time ago thought it hadn't been easy. _

_He got up and looked out at the Atlanta skyline and then turned walked out the door of his office forgetting the report. He needed to spend the time with his family._


	11. It Starts

Danny looked at his watch one more time as he walked up to his apartment after a work out at Gold's Gym. He would barely have time to take a shower before going to his mother's for dinner but he also didn't want to show up all sweaty.

Ring! His cellphone started to ring.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hey it's me." Tatem answered. "I need to ask you something in case I don't remember at dinner. Could you baby-sit Misha tomorrow afternoon? I have to take the twins to a doctor's appointment."

"Sure." Danny said. "I have nothing planned tomorrow."

"Great. So if you can pick her up after school that would be great." She said. "I need to get the girls ready. Ted's meeting us at mom's house after work. Bye Danny."

"Bye Tatem." He said and hung up the phone.

He put his key in the lock and turned the knob. He tossed his key on the coffee table and went into the kitchen area for bottled water.

He heard someone walking up behind him. He was about to turn around when a cloth was slipped over his mouth. He fought with the attacker and tried not to breathe in the ether that he smelled on the rag.

He picked up a nearby lamp and brought it down on the figure behind him.

"Damn it!" The attacker yelled.

He tried to get to the door when something came crashing down on his head from someone he hadn't noticed was hiding behind the door.

He had been kidnapped. There should be something against getting kidnapped twice. He thought as he gave into unconsciousness.

&&&

Cassidy Austin returned to her apartment and found it empty which didn't surprise her since she knew Athena was in Europe and Megan was most likely at a family dinner at Nancy Benoit's. She had dropped her sister off at a hotel and would pick her up on the way to the airport.

She looked at her watch knowing if she planned to get any sleep tonight, she better start packing now. She had an early flight to Los Angeles the next day for RAW.

She headed to her room but stopped when there was a knock on the door. She went up to it and looked out and didn't see anything. Strange. She thought.

She started to turn around when she heard a bedroom door open.

"Megan?" She asked. "I didn't realize you were..." She trailed off when she saw the person there was most definitely not Megan.

She looked from the person to the gun and back to the person.

"We are going for a ride." The person said and forcibly pushed Cassidy out of her apartment.


	12. Reaction

Nancy looked at the time for the third time in 20 minutes. Danny was very late. Dinner had been eaten quite some time ago and Angie, Eve, and Sam were all asleep upstairs in her the guestroom/grandchildren's room.

She reached for her cellphone again and dialed. Nothing.

"Do you want Ted and I to go check out the apartment?" Levi said.

"That's a good idea." Tatem said quickly.

Nancy nodded. "And I will go too." She said reaching for her purse.

"It's okay mom." Levi said quickly exchanging glances with his brother-in-law. "Ted and I can handle it."

"I want to come." Trevor spoke up from where he was playing a computer game with Misha.

"Absolutely not." Jason said. "You have school tomorrow." He looked at his watch, "and you should be in bed."

"But dad..." Jason started to whine.

Ted and Levi chose that moment to leave with Alex and Megan following behind them. Ted and Levi rode in one car and Alex and Megan in another since Alex was dropping her off home.

They walked up to the room and Ted knocked.

No one came to the door.

"Anyone got a key?" Alex asked.

Megan sort of rolled her eyes as she pulled out her spare key that Danny had given her. She unlocked the door.

"Shit!" Levi said looking around at the broken lamp and the broken vase that were on the floor. That was not what they had expected to find at the apartment.

Megan leaned back against her fiancé in shock. This could not be happening.

Ted swore something under his breath as he took his cellphone out and dialed 911.

"Meg," Alex said. "I think you might want to call your father."

***

When Chris, Nancy, and Jason arrived, separately but arriving at the same time, they found cops looking through the apartment for clues of what may have happened.

Nancy walked up to her oldest who was standing off to the side talking to one of the Detectives.

"What happened?"

"We are still trying to figure that out." The officer said. "My name is Officer Casey Ayler. And this is my partner Officer Andy Bustamante." He said indicating the officer who was talking to Alex.

"We assume, Officer Bustamante said, "that Daniel came home and was surprised by his attackers." He said indicating the gym bag that was sitting on the floor and the bottled water that was near the kitchen entrance. "It looks like perhaps Daniel hit his attacker or he was hit twice."

Nancy's face paled when she saw the blood near the water bottle.

"We will have a sample brought in for testing." Ayler said.

"Is his roommate expected back soon?" Bustamante asked. "Miss Benoit indicated that he shares this apartment."

"No. His roommate's on tour with WCW in Europe." Chris exclaimed.

"We've got what we need for now." Bustamante said as he bagged the fragments from the vase and lamp in separate bags. "We'll be in touch." He said. Both officers left.

"I can't believe this has happened again!" Nancy yelled at her ex-husband. "This is the second time Chris!"

"I know Nancy..." Chris started to say.

"I'm going to go check on Megan." Alex said. "She went down to her apartment to get something." He said and left quickly.

"Nancy," Jason said putting a hand on her arm, "it's after midnight. Danny's neighbors can hear you."

Nancy sighed knowing he was right but that didn't make her any less angry. Her son was missing and she had a pretty good idea on who was behind this and that didn't make matters any easier.

"Chris if he's hurt in any way I'm holding you responsible." She said and turned and left the apartment. Jason and Levi followed right behind.


	13. Fly Home

Steve was getting ready the next morning when he received the phone call. He was staying in a hotel in Atlanta before heading to Los Angeles for the next event. The only reason he was there was Shane wanted to have a meeting with Steve and Chris before he left to join WCW on their next stop in Paris. Chris had made his home in Atlanta while he and Debra lived in San Antonio.

"Debra can you get that?" He called.

Debra picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Debra it's me." Chris answered the phone. "Can I talk to Steve?"

"Sure." She went into the bathroom and handed Steve the phone saying, "it's Chris."

"Hello?"

"Have you spoken to Cassidy recently?"

"No. She's supposed to be here in a half hour to drive all of us to the airport."

There was a pause.

"Chris what's going on?" Austin asked starting to lose his temper. He didn't like to wait for answers.

"Danny was kidnapped last night."

"What?!" Steve yelled so loud that Debra came back to the bathroom. "What about Cassidy?"

"We don't know. Megan thought she was with you at the hotel. This morning she found her suitcase still on her bed open."

"Shit! You are just calling me now to tell me my daughter was kidnapped?"

"Steve we didn't want to worry you. It was after midnight when we found out and..."

"You didn't think I'd want to know that your kid was kidnapped?" Steve continued to yell.

There was a knock at his door. Debra went to answer it and let Stephanie Williams into the room.

"Look Steve I'm sorry I didn't call you but..."

"But nothing Chris. My daughter is missing and I want answers." He said and hung up the phone.

Stephanie stared at her father in shock. "What happened to Cassie?"

***

A few hours later, Athena had just stepped into the hotel lobby in London when Dustin Runnels stopped her. They were going to catch a bus to Liverpool for the next show.

"Athena I need to talk to you for a moment." Dustin said leading her away from his daughter whom she had been rooming with in London.

"Shane called me and said I need to get you on the next flight back to the states."

Athena felt fear grip her. "Is it my parents? Mandy and the baby?" A lot of different scenarios were running through her head that would have Shane say she needed to catch the next flight home.

"Shane didn't really say. He just said an emergency has arisen and you need to catch the next flight home. He has also asked that Cameron go with you."

That worried Athena a lot more. Something must have been really wrong for both her and Cameron to be called back.

Dustin handed her a ticket. "Maybe you two will be able to rejoin the tour." Dustin said.

"Maybe." Athena said still thinking about what may be wrong. She looked down at her plane ticket. Her plane left at 2:00 and she had a nonstop flight and would arrive at 6:15 PM.

She looked at her watch. She needed to get going if she was going to reach the airport in time.

Dakota came up to her and wished her luck, obviously having overheard what her father had said.

She took her cellphone out as she got into the cab. She looked up briefly as Cam slid in next to her. She had been thinking about what Dustin had said and hadn't seen Cam.

"Did Dustin say anything to you?" Athena said putting her phone away for a moment.

"No. Just said that I needed to go with you back to Atlanta."

She took her phone out and tried calling her Uncle Bret but only got his voice mail. She left a message asking him to call her back as soon as he got the message.

"I hate this." She said to Cam. "I want to know what's going on."

"I know." Cam said and looked out the window.

What if there was something wrong with her family and it was so bad they didn't want to tell her over the phone? Now she was really worried.

She decided to call Oje.

"Hello?" A tired voice asked. Athena looked at her watch and realized it was very early in the morning in Calgary.

"Is there a family emergency?" She asked in way of greeting.

"Athena?" Oje asked sounding a little more awake.

"Is there a family emergency?" She asked again.

"Not that I know of."

"Is Mandy okay?"

"Mandy's asleep next to me and she's fine. So's Tim." He said quick to reassure her.

"I was told I needed to get home right away but they wouldn't say why. Uncle Bret's okay?"

"I spoke to him last night, he's fine."

"Okay." She said still sounding unsure. "Let me know if you hear anything." She said and hung up the phone.

She hated not knowing what was going on.


	14. Homecoming

Cameron found himself holding Athena's hand when they exited the airplane in Atlanta. He had tried to distance himself from Athena and Danny as he felt guilty for what his father had tried to do to their fathers. It was really the reason he had gone to WCW instead of the WWF. He had said it was because he didn't want to be in his father's shadow but it was more than that. It was because he didn't think he could work with Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, and Owen Hart.

They walked through the airport and then to the baggage claim. They hadn't gone far before fans swarmed them asking for autographs. A man hurried over to them.

"I apologize; however, Miss Hart and Mr. Hickenbottom are in a hurry." He said lightly pushing past the fans as he guided Cam and Athena through the airport.

Athena stopped for a moment as she figured out why the man looked familiar. "Alex?" She asked.

Her former bodyguard gave a slight nod. "It is good to see you too Miss Hart." He led them to baggage claim. "Did either of you check luggage?" They shook their heads.

They were lead outside to a waiting car. Cam was reluctant to get in the car. This all really seemed strange to him. This morning Dustin told him he needed to go back to Atlanta and much like Athena, he had thought it was a family emergency. He dismissed the idea almost immediately as he knew if it was a family emergency, he'd be going to San Antonio instead. He had been very surprised to find out Athena was also being sent back to Atlanta. Things just didn't add up to him.

"Cam it's okay." Athena said sticking her head out the door. "I know the driver."

Cam reluctantly got in the back with Athena. Alex got into the passenger seat. Cam was pretty sure he had seen the driver before but he wasn't certain.

"Michael what's going on?" Athena asked.

"Daniel Benoit and Cassidy Williams have disappeared." Michael said as he started the car. "We believe they were both kidnapped from their apartments last night. As Danny's family had gone to see why he wasn't answering his cell phone after missing a family dinner at his mother's house."

"Why did you think it was a kidnapping and who are you?" Cam asked through the lump in his throat.

"My name is Michael Erichson. I am an FBI agent. I've been working on this for 21 years. To answer your first question, Danny's apartment was trashed. We do not know for certain if Cassidy was kidnapped but she is missing."

They drove quietly to Fayetteville and stopped before a house. Michael flashed his badge at the person sitting there and drove up to the house.

They all got out of the car and Michael rang the doorbell. Megan answered the door and led them inside. Cameron wondered where they were. He had thought they were being taken to a hotel but this was most definitely someone's house.

"Everyone's outside." Megan said leading them through the home and out onto the deck.

Cam saw Steve, Chris, Megan's fiancé Alex, Shane and Marissa McMahon, and a whole bunch of people and children he didn't know. He really didn't know Alex. He had only exchanged greetings a few times. He knew he was a wrestler for the WWF.

The conversations seemed to stop when he and Athena went outside. Athena went over to talk to Chris and Steve but Cam hung back feeling like an outside, which, he pretty much was. After the trial where his father was sentenced for multiple murders and attempted murders, he felt like he didn't deserve to be friends with Athena and Danny. Now Danny and Cassidy had disappeared and it wasn't fair.

Cam felt someone clap him on the shoulder. He turned around to find Eddy Guerrero standing there. "How are you doing Cam?" He asked.

Cam wasn't sure how to answer him at first. "Okay I guess." Though that was a lie but he wasn't sure what else to say. It felt he had a pit in his stomach. He was pretty sure he knew who was responsible and at the moment, he wasn't sure what to believe. He turned around and walked back through the house and out the door. He didn't know where he was going but knew he couldn't stay there.


	15. Not Okay

Notes: The beginning of this chapter takes place about the same time as the last two chapters.

Danny opened his eyes and all he saw was darkness. He tried to move his arms and found they were stretched apart and tied somewhere behind him. His legs were doing the same thing below him. Where was he? He wondered. The last thing he remembered was going into his apartment and then...

Oh great. He was kidnapped again!

Okay calm down. He told himself. He didn't know whether to be relieved or not that he was tied to what was most likely a bed instead of a chair like he was when he was kidnapped by Chad and taken to Vince's office.

He tried to take in his surroundings but realized that he was gagged and blindfolded.

He heard the door open and close and muffled whispers. What did they do to his ears? He wondered and then decided it was the blindfold being tied so tightly.

"He..." A voice trailed off or at least that's what it sounded like.

"Prob..." He was shaken.

"Wake up Benoit." The voice ordered as the blindfold came off.

He squinted as he was blinded by the light. He now saw why they took the blindfold off. His abductors were wearing masks which could explain why they sounded muffled.

"Who are..."

He was rewarded with a punch to the face.

"We ask the questions." A second person said.

Oh he knew that voice without question muffled or not.

"Chad?"

***

Later at the George residence.

Chris could not stop fidgeting. He couldn't believe this had happened to his son again. They had really thought they were free of Vince's crew when they were locked up in prison and especially now that Vince was dead.

Shane and Marissa left earlier as they had left the children with a sitter. Debra Austin had flown in from San Antonio right before they left. Chris had even heard rumors that Steve's ex-wife Jeannie was going to fly in with her husband Darren but Chris was hoping that wouldn't happen. He knew that wouldn't end well and the George house was already becoming way too full though most of them would eventually leave to a hotel. Though it wouldn't be the same hotel they stayed at during the trial. Though he, Athena, Cam, and Megan all live in Atlanta, they would be joining the contingent at the hotel.

He looked at his watch. He had been going for almost 36 hours and he was really tired. None of them had gone to sleep after they discovered Danny and Cassidy were missing. He looked around and saw that Megan was asleep with her head on Alex's lap. Most everyone else were in the middle of quiet conversations.

"Grandpa Chris?" A voice asked breaking him out of his thoughts.

He looked down to see Misha standing there. It usually brought a smile to his face when she called him that. No one was sure why she started calling him that but they thought it might be because David's kids did.

"Yes Misha?"

"Will Uncle Danny be okay?"

How in the world was he going to answer the seven year old's question? She was too young to understand but he couldn't really answer the question truthfully.

"I'm sure he will be."

"Mommy told daddy she was so scared for him and Cass..." She seemed to have trouble remembering her name. "Cassie?"

"Cassidy." He said.

"Right. But he'll be okay right?"

"I hope so."

***

Cam stood there talking to Levi and was feeling a little uncomfortable. He knew everyone thought his dad had something to do with this but he wasn't sure. He could see it happening, but why would they kidnap them? He wondered. It wasn't like they could achieve anything from prison.

He looked at his watch. He probably should head home.

"I should probably head home." He told Levi.

He started to walk to the house and realized he didn't have any way of going anywhere. He had been picked up at the airport.

He walked up to Jason George. "Can I use your phone book?"

"Sure." He said. He led him inside of the house. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh no. I'm going to call a cab for a ride back to my apartment and then find the next flight back to Europe."

"Uh Cam," Eddy said from his spot sitting on the couch where he had been on the phone almost the whole time Cam had been at the house. "I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go back to the tour."

"Why? I know the reason you had my fly here was to make sure Athena got here safe. She arrived safely and now I'm going back."

Eddy didn't say anything. "I see your point. Just be careful."

"I will. Good luck finding Danny and Cassidy." He said.

"Hey wait!" David Benoit said coming up to them. "I'll save you the cab money and give you a ride back to your apartment. "Are you in the same building as Danny?"

"No but I'm not far from it."

"Great. Let me go get my car and I'll give you a ride. I was going to go home anyway."

Eddy watched David leave and turned to Cam. "Cam it would be a better idea for you to stay."

"And do what exactly Eddy? It's not like I can find them. Thank you for your concern but I have to go."

Eddy didn't say anything but the look on his face told Cam what he was thinking.


	16. DVD Message

Chris stared at the opened package with apprehension. It had been delivered that day to his apartment. When he opened the package he found an unlabeled DVR disc inside. There was a typed piece of paper inside of the envelope also. It read:

Benoit,

Play this in front of your family.

It was not signed.

Chris hadn't played it yet. He wasn't sure he could. He had learned many things the past twenty years and one of those things was not to play videos that you receive mysteriously because there was never anything good on them.

He picked up the phone and called Erichson.

"Hello?" Tammy Sytch Erichson answered.

"Hi Tammy it's Chris. Is Michael there?"

"Just a second," she said. There was silence for a few seconds before Michael answered.

"Hello?"

"Michael its Chris. I received DVD in the mail today. There was a piece of paper inside that instructed me to play it in front of my family."

"Have you watched it yet?" Michael asked.

"Not yet. I called you first."

"Why don't we all meet at your apartment in an hour. I'll call everyone and tell them what's going on."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then." Chris said and hung up the phone. He placed the DVD on the table and stared at it. The feeling of dread didn't go away.

Everyone arrived within an hour. The last two to arrive were Nancy and Jason.

"I'm sorry," Jason said as he came in. "I couldn't talk her out of coming."

"He's my son and I have every right to see this DVD." She reminded them.

Chris went over to his Blu Ray/DVD player and slipped the DVD inside. He pushed play.

The video started with a shot of two men in masks. They were standing in front of a door. One of them opened the door and the cameraman stepped inside. The next shot was of Danny tied to a bed blindfolded.

"As you can see," a voice said. "Daniel Benoit is unharmed, at the moment anyway."

The camera turned and showed one of the masked men was holding a sledgehammer.

Megan gasped. Alex held her tightly.

"Megan why don't you…" Chris started to say.

"I want to stay," she said though her voice was shaking.

"Daniel," the masked man that had just spoken singsonged. "Why don't you say hello to your family who are watching right now?"

"Go to Hell Chad."

"Chad?" Athena said in shock. Chad was behind this?

"Not cool Danny Boy," Chad said. He lifted the sledgehammer higher. He dropped it down on Danny's knee.

There was a loud scream from not only Danny but also others in the room that were watching the video.

Danny was hit twice more in the leg. Megan left the room with Alex following her.

Nancy sat staring at the screen with tears streaming down her face.

"We will be in touch," the second person said. The screen went blank.

The room was silent for a few minutes.

Nancy stood up, wiping the tears angrily away from her face. This was no time to cry. Her son was still alive; at least she hoped he was. Chad and the other person were going to pay for hurting her son.

"Well at least we know one person behind this," Eddy said. "I didn't recognize the other voice."

"I thought Chad went to TNA," Chris said. "Carter called to confirm that he was out of the WWF."

"Nah," Alex said coming into the room along with Megan. "I talked to Daniels the other day and he said he heard that Chad got fired for failing a drug test. His second one I think."

Eddy snorted. "They never fired RVD."

"So what now?" Megan asked.

"It's not much to go on," Michael said, "but I will have someone check for fingerprints to see if we can find out who may have sent the DVD. Shane are you going to keep the company's going? I know WCW is Europe but I don't think Chris and Steve are going to want to be on the road and I think it'd be a good idea to keep all of you in the same area. Owen also when he and Martha get here."

"I've been thinking about it," Shane said. "I'm going to put the WWF on hiatus but the wrestlers will be welcome to wrestle with WCW if they want. I was trying to keep this from happening but at the moment we have no one to run the WWF."

"Probably a good idea," Bischoff spoke up. He looked at his watch. "I need to head home. I already told Lori our trip to Japan was going to be cancelled until further notice so if you need me, call me on my cell." He said and left.

Soon everyone started leaving.

Nancy looked at Chris for a long moment pain very evident in her eyes but she didn't say anything as she left the room.

She may not have said anything but her eyes spoke volumes.

Chris watched Michael take the DVD and leave.

He was right. This DVD had nothing good on it.


	17. Surprise in Germany

Matt Hardy sat in the back watching everyone hurried to put the show together. It wasn't a TV taping so he didn't have much to do at the moment as they only had one cameraman working tonight. He had given most of the production team the night off to enjoy Munich. He probably could have taken the night off but things had been so crazy the last couple of shows he thought he should be there. Amy, on the other hand, was taking advantage of the day off and had gone sightseeing.

"Matt?" Someone asked.

He turned his wheelchair around to face whoever it was. He found one of the security guards they hired for the night standing there.

"Someone's here that I'm not sure we should let backstage."

"Well if it's a fan without a backstage pass then probably not. I'm check with Mark Smith about it though. He's the head security guard."

"I would but I think this might be your call."

Matt's brow furrowed. His call? He was in charge of production not security. "What do you mean?"

He looked away for a moment before saying, "your brother Jeff's here."

Matt started at the younger man. "You must be mistaken," he said. "My brother's in jail in North Carolina."

"That's why it's probably your call. Follow me," he said and led him to the spot where the wrestlers were entering. Standing there talking to Shannon Moore was in fact Jeff Hardy.

"Get Mark now," Matt told the man before turning to Jeff. "What are you doing here?"

"I was released from jail. My appeal went through."

Matt's face paled. What kind of appeal could Jeff have possibly gotten? He wondered.

"Look Matt I'm not here to hurt you," Jeff said quickly. "I heard you guys were on tour in Europe and Julie told me Shannon's schedule so I thought I'd come and hang out." Julie was Shannon's wife.

Why hadn't he heard about any of this? Matt wondered. It had been less then a week since he had visited Jeff in prison and he was here in Germany?

"Matt should I throw him out?" Mark asked joining them along with Dustin.

"I think that would be a good idea," Dustin said his eyes darkening. "Shane would not want any of them here."

"Shane's not here," Jeff said. "From what I heard anyway." He said quickly.

Matt did not want to make this decision. He had told Jeff he wasn't mad at him but did he feel completely safe with Jeff around? It was easier to tell someone that when they are behind bars where you don't have to actually worry about them it's another to be face to face with them in Germany. It wasn't easy to forget that Jeff was the reason he was in this wheelchair.

There was a flash from the camera.

"Oh sorry," Amara said quickly. "I just thought we should have a picture of this,"

"Amara why don't you go take pictures of something else," Dustin suggested not even looking at the young photographer. He turned his attention back to Matt. "Well?"

"I don't want him backstage," Matt finally said. "He can watch from the audience if he wants."

"Okay that's cool," Jeff said. "I'll catch up with everyone later," Jeff said before leaving.

They all watched him leave.

"Could this tour get any stranger?" Matt asked no one in particular.

"I hope not," Mark said before he left.

"Man Shane's not going to like this at all," Dustin said before leaving.

Matt sat there watching Jeff walk away wondering if he made the right decision. He took his cellphone out and made a call. He was going to find out what was going on. He called home and his father confirmed what Jeff said. The court found in Jeff's favor and released him. It had only happened the day before.

So what was Jeff doing in Munich? Matt wondered. He hoped everything would go back to how it had been but he found that highly unlikely.

Notes: Muses. What can you do with them when they come up with an idea to fix the plot problem later?


	18. Bad News

Danny woke up to a world of pain. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious but wished he was still unconscious. His leg felt like it was in a million pieces. He remembered Chad hitting his leg over and over again with a sledgehammer. As if he needed further proof on who was responsible for all of this.

The door opened and Chad entered the room with no mask on. He sat in the chair next to the bed Danny was tied to.

"How ya feeling Danny boy," Chad asked.

"Go to Hell Chad," Danny said in a raspy voice. His voice was still raspy from the screaming.

"That's where we are," Chad said with a smile, "I've been waiting for over two years to get my revenge. You got me fired Danny and now I'm taking away your career." He reached under the bed and pulled out a sledgehammer. He hit Danny in the knee again.

Danny let out a scream before passing out.

* * *

Cassidy clenched her eyes closed as she heard someone screaming again. She wondered who it was. She also wished that she could get free so she could stop whomever it was that was hurting them.

A man in a mask entered the room holding a camera.

"It's time we made a video for your father," he said. He set the camera on a tripod and hit record. "Austin," the man said, "as you can see, your daughter is fine. Don't worry we aren't going to hurt her like we did Daniel. Unlike Daniel, she's innocent," a smile appeared on his face.

Daniel? Cassidy wondered. Was he talking about Danny?

"We'll be in touch again," the man said before turning the camera off.

"What did you do to Danny?"

"He had to pay for putting my friends in jail. We had been hoping to grab Athena but hadn't known that she had left for Europe," he said as he pulled the mask off.

Cassidy knew that face. He was a friend of her stepfather.

"Randy Orton?"

* * *

Matt was feeling uneasy as he returned to his hotel room after the show. He looked at his watch. He was supposed to meet Amy for dinner at the hotel restaurant. He had no idea how she would react to the news that Jeff was out of prison. He remembered how she had reacted when he said he was going to visit Jeff in jail.

He found a note next to the phone. It read:

Matt,

I'm downstairs waiting for you.

Love,

Amy.

Matt turned the wheelchair around and opened the door. He was surprised to find Jeff and Shannon standing there.

"Hey man," Shannon said, "we were just about to knock."

"Hi," Matt said, "I'm actually leaving. I'm meeting Amy for dinner."

"That's cool," Jeff, said, "we can catch up later."

"I'll give you a call. Where are you staying?"

"I'm in room 834." Jeff answered.

At this hotel?" Matt asked unable to hide his shock. He and Amy were in room 252.

"Yeah," Jeff said, "Shannon's in the room next to mine."

"That's good," Matt, said, "I really need to go. I'll talk to you guys later," He said before rolling to the bank of elevators.

He only had to wait a minute before he rolled into a mostly empty elevator. The couple that was already in the elevator, moved over to make room for him. He hit the button for the lobby.

When they arrived at the lobby, he let them exit first before rolling out. He rolled to the restaurant.

"May I help you?" The Maitre D asked.

"I'm meeting my wife, Amy Hardy," Matt said.

The Maitre D consulted his computer before saying, "right this way."

Matt followed the Maitre D to a table towards the back. Amy smiled when she saw him. The Maitre D removed a chair from the table. Matt rolled into the empty spot and picked up a menu.

"How was the show," Amy asked.

"It went well. There were no problems."

Amy set her menu down on the table and said, "Matt I don't know how to tell you this so I'll just say it. Jeff's out of prison. I received an email from my mother saying that Jeff has been released from prison."

"Yeah I already know," Matt, said, "I just didn't know how to tell you. He's here."

"Here," Amy asked, "in Germany?"

"Actually, he's staying in the hotel."

"What?" Amy yelled. Everyone turned to look at them.

"He was at the show today."

"At the show," Amy asked, "and Dustin didn't throw him out?"

"They said it was my decision," Matt said with a sigh. "Jeff's sorry for what he did."

"He's never been sorry for putting you in that wheelchair and you know it," she reminded him, "and I will never forgive him for what he did to you."

"Amy," Matt said reaching for her hand but she pulled it away. "Look I'm not thrilled that he's here either, but I couldn't just have him thrown out of the building."

"Well we are changing hotels. I am not staying in the same hotel as Jeff," she said as she stood up.

"Amy we are going to Paris tomorrow. There's no reason to change hotels. We are not on the same floor."

"But he can find out what room we are staying at." She reminded him.

Matt decided not to tell her that Jeff already knew that.

"I don't think Jeff is going to do anything to me. Let's just enjoy the dinner and you can tell me what you did today.

Amy, even though she was still seething, picked up the menu again.


	19. First Down

The door opened bringing light into the dark room. Danny closed his eyes in an attempt to protect his eyes.

Orton entered the room and sat in the chair next to Danny's bed. Orton didn't say anything right away. He just stared at Danny, which unnerved him.

"What do you want," Danny asked. His voice was still a little hoarse.

Orton blinked and then had a sinister smile on his face. "I just wanted to talk Danny. I don't know much about you other than what I've been told by my boss and Chad. Unfortunately their opinion is biased because they hate you."

"Feeling's mutual."

Orton held up a glass for him to drink. He took a long sip.

"I saw you wrestle my kid once in OVW. My name's Randy Orton."

Danny knew that name. He had teamed with Orton's son a couple of times. He remembered hearing Randy's name mentioned a few times during the trial. Mostly people were wondering if Orton was a part of it. Guess they would now have their answer.

"My kid talked about you a couple of times saying you had potential. Course my kid is out of work. Shane McMahon fired him as soon as he took over WWF and WCW. Said it was a budget thing. But I think it's because I'm his father."

Danny knew several people had been let go from WWE because of suspicious hirings but he didn't think that was why Randy III was fired. But he couldn't say that to the older Randy.

"How long are you going to hold me here," Danny asked changing the subject.

"Until we have our revenge," he said. He got up from his chair and left the room.

Danny watched him leave with a feeling of dread.

* * *

The next day Shane McMahon arrived at Atlanta International School to pick up Andi and Wes from school. He was early and waited in the parent drop off/pick up area. He looked on the backseat and saw a folder that was lying on the backseat. He must have forgotten to take them in last night. He opened the backdoor and bent down to pick it up.

Something hit him hard from behind. He fell against the backseat.

"Dad," a voice screamed. He turned around to see Andi running towards him along with other people.

"Sir are you okay," a voice asked from next to him.

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully.

"Well my wife has called an ambulance," the man answered. "Don't move."

"I'm okay," Shane said as he started to get up. He shoulder really hurt.

"Just try to relax," another voice said from behind him as something was pressed against his shoulder. "You've been shot."

"What," Shane asked. "I don't remember getting shot!"

"Well that's what looks like," the first person said. "Security is trying to locate the shooter."

"My kids…" Shane started to say.

"Don't worry sir," another person said, "we are keeping everyone back at a safe distance."

Several minutes later the EMTs arrived and loaded him into the ambulance.

"My kids," he said again.

"They are in the front. Your wife will meet you at the hospital."

"Daddy you okay," Wes asked.

"Yep they are just taking me to the hospital to be checked out."

"Don't worry kids," the driver said. "Your dad just has a boo boo."

"They aren't even using the sirens," Andi said to her brother. "They use sirens for big emergencies."

Something was injected into Shane's good arm and he closed his eyes. The next thing he knew his gurney was being pulled from the back of the ambulance. He was wheeled into an examination room.

"Hello Mr. McMahon," a chipper voice greeted. "My name is Nurse Brenda. We are going to get your arm x-rayed to check the damage to your shoulder."

"Where are my kids," he asked.

"Nurse Hannah is with them in the waiting room until your wife arrives. Don't worry Mr. McMahon. We'll take care of your kids."

Shane was wheeled into x-ray and then back to the exam room when they were finished with the x-rays. He found Michael Erichson waiting for him. The orderly said that the doctor would be with them soon.

"What happened," Michael asked as soon as they were alone.

"I went to the school to pick up my kids and I guess I was shot. But I didn't hear anything just felt the bullet."

"Must have been using a silencer. Michael said, "whoever it was, was gone by the time security was notified. I've got agents searching the area."

"We know who it was," Shane said. "It's either Orton or Chad or any of the other people who are employed by Hunter or Stephanie."

"Right," Michael agreed, "but we haven't found them. Until we do, I have Agents watching Owen, Chris, Steve, and you and your family of course."

The door opened and a doctor entered the exam room. "Hello Mr. McMahon, he greeted. "My name is Dr. Brower. I have examined the x-rays and have found that the bullet went clean through. There are no bullet fragments in your shoulder. I'm going to prescribe you some painkillers. You will also want to keep your arm in a sling for the next couple of weeks. I will have Nurse Brenda come in and stitch up your arm and you'll be good to go. You can visit your physician to have the stitches removed."

"Thanks doctor," Shane said relieved that he wasn't being checked into the hospital.

The doctor left.

"You were lucky Shane," Michael said. He looked down at his phone. "I'll be right back," he said. "I've got to take this call but I'll send Marissa in." He said and left the exam room. A couple of minutes later Marissa, Andi, and Wes came into the room.

Marissa hugged Shane carefully. "I'm so glad that you are okay," she said, "I was so worried."

"Us too," Andi said speaking for herself and Wes. "When I saw you get shot…" her voice shook.

"I'm sorry you saw that," Shane said reaching out to her with his good arm. She moved in for a hug along with Wes. He held both of his children awkwardly until a nurse came in to stitch up his shoulder.

Forty minutes later, the McMahons were leaving the hospital. Michael and a couple of agents went with them.

Shane's shoulder was really starting to hurt as he got into Marissa's car. He tried not to show it as Marissa helped him with the seatbelt.

"We'll bring your car when we are done examining it," Michael said. He handed Marissa the file folder Shane had been trying to get when he was shot. "I wasn't sure if you needed these or not."

"Thanks Michael," Shane said.

"Tammy and I will be by later," Michael said. "I want to check in with everyone. I know Eric and Loree are leaving for Japan in a couple of days."

"They are still planning to go on the trip," Marissa asked in surprise. "I thought everyone was staying in Atlanta.

"Unfortunately," Michael said, "we couldn't convince them to stay here. Eric seems to think he would be just as safe or safer overseas. He says he has a couple of friends in the Yakuza."

"That doesn't surprise me," Shane said as he leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

Marissa drove away.

* * *

Yakuza=Japanese mafia in case you didn't know. Things don't want to get better in this fic that's for sure.


End file.
